As a gyrokinetic code, QuaLiKiz is well suited to model the core of tokamak devices which are strongly magnetized. Gyrokinetics is a popular approach to investigate turbulent phenomena in magnetized plasmas such as those of fusion devices [1]}, [2]}. Gyrokinetics is well suited in scenarios where the microscopic dynamics are subject to the gyrokinetic ordering. Essentially, we apply gyrokinetics to situations where we can decouple the fast gyromotion of the charged particle from the slow drift motion; this can be done when the time scale of the gyromotion is significantly faster than all other time scales in the system and when the gyroradius is smaller than almost all other length scales in the system. In such a scenario, the magnetic moment is conserved, leading to a significant reduction in the complexity of the dynamics [3]}. Moreover, gyrokinetics incorporates an ordering where the modes are anisotropic and flute-like, meaning that the characteristic parallel wavelength of the mode is large but perpendicular wavelengths can be comparable to the gyroradius. Thus, gyrokinetics is well suited for theoretical and quantitative investigations of magnetized plasma microturbulence. As a result, gyrokinetics has been used and applied in a wide variety of systems [4]}, [5]}, [6]}, [7]}, [8]}, [9]}, [10]}, [11]}, [12]}, [13]}. Even beyond tokamaks, progress is being made in simulating stellarator plasmas in gyrokinetic codes [14]}, [15]}, [16]}, [17]}, [18]}. QuaLiKiz in particular, however, assumes an axisymmetric geometry to simplify the dynamics, meaning QuaLiKiz is only suitable for tokamaks and not stellarators.
